Currency bill recycling machine

ABSTRACT

A currency bill recycling machine has an input ( 3 ) and output ( 8, 9 ) for receiving and dispensing currency bills; a transport system ( 4 ); and a detection system ( 5 ) to which bills are fed by the transport system from the input ( 3 ). The detection system ( 5 ) is adapted to determine the denomination, authenticity and fitness of each bill. A recycling store ( 11 - 14 ) and an unfit bill store ( 15 ) are provided to which bills are fed by the transport system ( 4 ). The detection system ( 5 ) is adapted to cause genuine fit bills to be fed to the recycling store ( 11 - 14 ), and to cause unfit bills to be fed to the unfit bill store ( 15 ), the transport system being operable to withdraw bills from the recycling store for dispensing via the output ( 8, 9 ).

The invention relates to a currency bill recycling machine allowingcurrency bills to be deposited and recycled for dispensing.

Currency bill recycling machines are often used for teller assistpurposes. They relieve the teller of the need to check deposited billsfor authenticity and denomination and typically bills which cannot beauthenticated or denominated are immediately returned to the teller whocan then return them to the customer, destroy them or the like. The DeLa Rue TCR Twin Safe is a recent example of such a teller assistrecycling machine.

Problems can arise, however, when currency bills of poor condition orfitness are offered for deposit. These may be unfit for a variety ofreasons such as undue soiling, tears, corner folds and the like.Conventionally, it has been necessary for the teller to manually preventthese bills from being fed into the recycling machine where they arelikely to cause jams. However, some currency bills may be sufficientlyfit to pass a visual test but nevertheless are not acceptable forrecycling. In addition, manually inspecting bills when presented in abundle is particularly difficult for a teller who must do this quickly.

Fitness detectors are well known but typically are only utilized inlarge scale sorting machines. An example of a recycler which carries outa fitness test is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2001/0015309. In thismachine, bills are tested for authenticity, denomination and fitness.However, if an unfit (or counterfeit) bill is detected then it isimmediately sent back to an output. This is unsatisfactory from thepoint of view of both a customer and a teller because it is thennecessary to manually check the returned bill to determine whether ithas been rejected on grounds of genuineness or fitness and it isparticularly undesirable for unfit but genuine notes to be returned.

Other examples are described in EP-A-0734001, EP-A-0317537, U.S. Pat.No. 5,555,983 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,610.

In all these cases, no attention has been paid to the variety of billsclassified as unfit.

In accordance with the present invention, a currency bill recyclingmachine has an input and output for receiving and dispensing currencybills; a transport system; a detection system to which bills are fed bythe transport system from the input, the detection system being adaptedto determine at least the fitness and authenticity of each bill; and arecycling store, a recirculation store, and an unfit bill store to eachof which bills are selectively fed by the transport system, thedetection system being adapted to cause genuine bills of sufficientfitness for recycling to be fed to the recycling store, to cause genuinebills of sufficient fitness for recirculating but not recycling to befed to the recirculation store, and to cause unfit bills to be fed tothe unfit bill store, the transport system being operable to withdrawbills from the recycling store for dispensing via the output.

We have developed a modified form of currency bill recycling machine inwhich unfit bills are not fed back to the output but rather are fed toan unfit bill store which enables the bills to be accepted but preventsthem from being recycled. In addition, we have recognised that adistinction can be drawn between bills unfit for recirculation and thosewhich can be recirculated but are not sufficiently fit to be recycled.

In particular, certain bills which are sufficiently fit forrecirculation are not fit for recycling either by the same or adifferent recycling machine, particularly if they are unduly limp. It ispossible to sort genuine bills, in accordance with their degree offitness, between the recycling store and the recirculation store. Byproviding the recirculation store, these non-recyclable fit bills can beneatly stacked in the store using a conventional stacking mechanism suchas a stacking wheel or roll storage module.

Typically, the unfit bill store will comprise a simple storage bin orthe like into which the unfit bills are dropped or otherwise fed withoutbeing positively stacked. A problem which has arisen in the past is thata stacking mechanism such as a stacking wheel or roll storage module hasjammed when presented with certain types of unfit bill, for examplehaving a tear or corner fold.

Typically, the detection system is adapted to determine one or both ofthe denomination and authenticity of each bill.

In a particularly preferred aspect of the invention, the machine furthercomprises an additional, stacking store, the detection system beingadapted to cause genuine bills which are not sufficiently fit forrecycling by the machine to be fed to the additional, stacking store.

It will be appreciated that although we have referred so far to the useof a single recycling store, a single recirculation store and a singleunfit bill store, there could, of course, be more than one of each,particularly, in the case of recycling stores, one for each differentdenomination to be handled.

In some cases, the or each recycling store will be utilized solelywithin the currency bill recycling machine but in other cases, one (ormore) of the recycling stores may be removable from the machine for usewith another bill dispensing machine such as an ATM. This has theadvantage that bills can be immediately made ready for dispensingwithout the need for separate sorting processes to be carried out.

The detection system may utilize any conventional components fordetermining fitness and optionally authenticity and denomination of thebills, typically including pattern and/or size recognition fordenomination; magnetic, IR or UV detection for authenticity; and imageprocessing and/or acoustic limpness detection for fitness.

As explained above, the currency bill recycling machine according to theinvention is particularly useful for use as a teller assist machine butcould be used in conventional, non-teller applications also.

An example of a teller assist currency bill recycling machine accordingto the invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:—

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the major components of the machine;

FIG. 2 illustrates the detection system in more detail;

FIG. 3 illustrates a representation of a currency bill having a numberof unfit properties; and,

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the processing algorithmperformed by the detection system.

The teller assist machine shown in FIG. 1 has two primary components, abill or note handling module (NHM) 1 mounted on top of a banknotestorage module 2 located within a secure housing such as a safe. The NHM1 includes an input station 3 from which notes are fed singly by atransport system generally designated 4 to a detection system 5. Thedetection system 5 includes a microprocessor 6 which not only controlsthe performance of the detection system but also the transport systemand diverters within the transport system. Notes are fed by thetransport system 4 from the detection system 5 to a diversion point 7where the notes can either be fed to one of a pair of output stations8,9 conveniently located adjacent respective tellers or through a slot10 in the housing of the module 2.

From the slot 10, the notes can be fed either to one of a set of fourrecycling stores 11-14 or to one of a set of three cassettes orcontainers 15-17.

The detailed construction of the transport system and diverters as wellas the stores will not be described in detail since these are allconventional in themselves and will be well understood by persons ofordinary skill in the art. Indeed, the overall system is based closelyon the De La Rue TCR Twin Safe machine.

The detection system 5 is shown in more detail in FIG. 2. Notes arefirst fed through an acoustic limpness or crackle detector 20 in whichthey are bent around a 90° angle as they pass along the transport pathand as they bend, they will emit a sound or crackle which is detected bya microphone 21. The amplitude of this sound is then passed from themicrophone 21 to the microprocessor 6. The notes then pass a set ofthree sensor assemblies 22,23,24 which inspect the notes as will bedescribed in more detail below. Each of the sensor assemblies 22-24 isconnected to the microprocessor 6.

The microprocessor 6 determines from the information supplied from thesensor assemblies 22-24 and acoustic limpness detector 20 thedenomination, genuineness and fitness of each note. The visibleappearance of the note is detected in response to visible irradiationfrom sensors 25,26 in the assemblies 22,23 respectively from whichvisual images of the appearance of each side of the note are obtainedand stored, an example being shown in FIG. 3. In other examples, theappearance of only one side is determined. After normalization andcorrection for skew and the like, the images are then used to determinedenomination by virtue of the note size or, in more sophisticatedexamples, by carrying out a pattern recognition process in which theimage is compared with a set of known patterns so as to determinedenomination. This is indicated by steps 40,41 in FIG. 4.

For the purposes of determining authenticity, each side of the note(although in some cases only one side of the note need be inspected) isirradiated with infrared radiation, the response to that irradiationbeing sensed by sensors 27,28 in assemblies 22,23 respectively. Again, apattern can be built up which can then be compared with known patternsof genuine notes. Conveniently, the denomination processing is carriedout first to limit the patterns which need to be used forauthentication.

Optionally, a further magnetic, authentication test may be made using amagnetic sensor 29 in the assembly 24. These steps are again indicatedby steps 40 and 41 in FIG. 4.

The microprocessor 6 also utilizes the IR and visible image data todetermine the fitness of the note. Fitness criteria which can beassessed include physical damage (open and closed tears), folds (dogears, Z folds, side folds), crumples, stains, written or drawn visualmodifications (“graffiti”), soil and foreign objects (tape, staples,paperclips). Some of these are indicated at FIG. 3 and it will be notedthat for some, it is useful to include a capacitive sensor 30. Inaddition, the limpness of the notes can be assessed using the acousticlimpness detector 20. These processes are indicated at steps 42,43 inFIG. 4.

As a result of steps 42,43, a fitness decision can be made (step 44) soas to assess firstly whether the note is fit or unfit and then whether adistinction can be made between recyclable and non-recyclable (butreusable) genuine and fit notes. The distinction is based on astatistical analysis of the distribution of the estimated fitnesscriteria on a training population of real currency. In addition, auser-dependent threshold may be used to bias the decision towards a moreor less critical behaviour. This is because fitness criteria typicallydo not permit a clear distinction between the classes, and decisionsshould be tuned in order to match as closely as possible the subjectiveperception of the individual human operator.

The user-dependent thresholds applied by the fitness decision algorithmare determined empirically.

Ultimately, as can be seen in FIG. 4, the microprocessor 6 will make adecision on denomination, authenticity and fitness and issue a routingsignal accordingly. It will also increment counts relating to the numberof notes of each denomination, typically broken down between fit andunfit.

Non-genuine notes are fed immediately to one of the outputs 8,9.

Recyclable (i.e genuine and of sufficient fitness) notes are directed bythe transport system 4 to an appropriate one of the recycling stores11-14 from where they can be recycled when the machine is used fordispensing. Each of the stores 11-14 can comprise a roll storage moduleor stacking cassette (with stacking wheel) as is well known.

Genuine, identified notes which are fit enough for recirculation but notrecycling are stacked in one of a pair of cassettes or recirculationstores 16,17, while genuine but unfit notes are dropped into a store 15.The store 15 does not include any stacking mechanism since it would bedifficult to store unfit notes, particularly limp notes and they aresimply dropped into the store 15.

Conveniently, the stores 11-14 are removable so that they can be locatedin another dispensing machine such as an ATM. The stores 15-17 may befixed in position or removable.

When the teller wishes to dispense notes, he will enter the requiredcombination of denominations via an input device (not shown) and themicroprocessor 6 will operate the transport system to extract therequired combination of notes from appropriate recycling stores 11-14where they are fed through the slot 10 to the appropriate output 8,9.

In some modes, the machine can sort notes from the input 3 directly tothe outputs 8,9, so as simply to separate fit and unfit notes optionallyindependent of denomination and/or authenticity.

1. A currency bill recycling machine having an input and output forreceiving and dispensing currency bills; a transport system; a detectionsystem to which bills are fed by the transport system from the input,the detection system being adapted to determine at least the fitness andauthenticity of each bill; and a recycling store, a recirculation store,and an unfit bill store to each of which bills are selectively fed bythe transport system, the detection system being adapted to causegenuine bills of sufficient fitness for recycling to be fed to therecycling store, to cause genuine bills of sufficient fitness forrecirculating but not recycling to be fed to the recirculation store,and to cause unfit bills to be fed to the unfit bill store, thetransport system being operable to withdraw bills from the recyclingstore for dispensing via the output.
 2. A machine according to claim 1,wherein the detection system is adapted to cause non-genuine bills to befed to the output.
 3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the outputand input are formed by separate openings.
 4. A machine according toclaim 1, wherein the recycling store comprises a roll storage module ora cassette and stacking system.
 5. A machine according to claim 1,wherein the recirculating store comprises a bin into which recirculablebills are dropped.
 6. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the unfitbill store comprises a bin into which rejected bills are dropped.
 7. Amachine according to claim 1, wherein the recycling store is removablefrom the machine for use with another bill dispensing machine such as anATM.
 8. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the detection system isadapted to determine the denomination of each bill.
 9. A machineaccording to claim 1, wherein the stores are contained within a securehousing.
 10. A machine according to claim 1, the machine having morethan one output store, the transport system being controllable to feedbills directly from the input to the output stores via the detectionsystem without being fed to the recycling and/or unfit bill stores. 11.A machine according to claim 1, the machine being constructed as ateller assist machine.